Welcome back to this person I met! You might notice something new in this episode, or someone new. As you all may know, Maya, the host of this podcast, is off to college. And that means someone new has to take over. My name is Kayla, and I, coincidentally, am her younger sister! For the next few years, I will be the new podcast host, and I am beyond excited to share my experiences with you all.

The voice you just heard was Jennifer St. John, the social media manager and trauma informed peer led reentry navigator of a Brighter Way. From previous episodes, you may remember a Brighter Way as a nonprofit dedicated to helping those previously incarcerated build a better, stable life. In this episode, Jennifer shares her journey battling her trauma and finding herself again through all of it.

Hi, and welcome back to This Person I Met! Today’s interviewee is Jen Peacock, the policy director for the Michigan Center for Youth Justice, which is an organization focused on ensuring that youth in the juvenile justice system have equitable access to qualified legal representation.

To give you some background, Michigan has a “decentralized system,” which means that juvenile court services and programming are managed at the county level. This means varied application of practices and significant differences in treatment – “justice by geography.”

And while the system for youth is not identical to that of the adult legal system, attorneys, administrators, prosecutors, and judges all still play major roles in influencing the outcomes of youth in the juvenile system.

As Jen mentioned, one of the biggest things we can do as community members is educate ourselves – which I think applies both to juvenile justice, but also any topic, especially ones relating to social causes. You can find more information about MCYJ at miyouthjustice.org, or follow MCYJ online @mi.youth justice. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I’ll see you next time!

Music: Bella Vista by the Sea by Daniel Robinson, courtesy of Uppbeat.

Hello, and welcome back to This Person I Met!

Continuing on with our series relating to the public education system, today’s guest is Sara-Beth Badalamente. She is the advisor for Huron High School’s newspaper (called the Emery), which I write and edit for! She’s also the advisor for the yearbook (called the Enthymion), a soccer coach, and also works on the Ann Arbor Public School teacher’s union bargaining team. All these things combined led her to have a very interesting perspective on the recent budget crisis in my school district.

In March, my school district announced a budget deficit of 25 million dollars, 14 million of which was due to an accounting error. A vote from the school board authorized layoffs, starting with Community Service Administrators. This led to protests and rallies attended by teachers and students alike, but additional cuts continued to be made, including the elimination of world language classes in elementary schools, co-director hours in band and orchestra classes being reduced by half, and 141 more layoffs, which was about 6 percent of district staff.

If you’re curious, you can read more about this budget crisis at thehuronemery.com, where my peers and I covered the situation pretty carefully.

Thank you so much for your support, and see you next time!